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Thursday, January 22, 2015

Auditions Part 6: New Orleans

Welcome back. Tonight the auditions are in New Orleans. As most people know, that is the hometown of Idol Judge Harry Connick Jr. So far this season for auditions we visited Nashville, Keith's current residence, and New York, Jennifer's former residence. So we got a little bit from everywhere. Tonight's episode is the first Thursday episode of the season that is only an hour. The talent last night was mixed. There were a couple talented people, there were some decent contestants that can go either way, and the majority of the rest of the contestants that received golden tickets have a lot of work to do. Hopefully tonight we will get some standout stars that are already ready to go. We shall see. So as we always do, let's get started:

New Orleans Auditions

Drew Plaisance (23) We find out that his second cousin baby-sat Harry Connick Jr when he was a kid. That was the most interesting thing about Drew and even that wasn't so interesting. He starts screaming and carrying on with Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T". Insane. He just keeps spinning around and has a terrible voice. It was as bad as you can get. 100% Should Not Go To Hollywood.Notable Comments= None, just blank stares from the judges. Going To Hollywood= Nope

Angelica "Jelly" Joseph (26) She has a very Aretha Franklin-esque quality to her voice. So that's a really big positive right there. Then she goes and hits some really beautiful notes and does some fantastic runs. A very high quality talent that I can definitely see doing well in this competition. She Should Go To Hollywood. Notable Comments=Harry-Wished for someone like her. Has great style and elegance. Keith-Loved it. Had a spunk to it. Going To Hollywood= Yep. All 3 Judges Send Her.

Tiffany Stringer (16) She is on the drill team, the dance team and she is super duper peppy. Jennifer asks her to do a cartwheel and she does that on the spot. She would be a great karaoke singer and even a great singer in the high school Glee club, but it's just very pedestrian. Nothing too special about it. Maybe she will be ready in 2 or 3 years, but not now. Should Not Go To Hollywood. Notable Comments= Harry-Felt really drill team, wasn't strong enough vocally. Keith-Everything was entertaining when coupled with her personality and decent enough voice.Going To Hollywood=Yep. Jennifer and Keith Send Her.

Greyson Turner (15) He is an adorable kid. Even Harry likes the way he walks. He sings an original called "Chasing Shadows". The song is really good and his voice is very strong. His song and his voice are original, that's a great thing. Should Go To Hollywood. Notable Comments=Jennifer-Talented, talented person. So much natural intensity and passion. Harry-First instinct is to not blow his voice out but wants him to.Going To Hollywood= Yep. All 3 Judges Send Her.

Sarah Quintana (28) Playing the piano as Sarah's accompaniment on her jazz performance is Harry Connick Jr. Pretty cool to have him play for you. Her voice is all jazz, I wonder what it will do on other types of genres and songs, but for this particular audition it was decent. Should Go To Hollywood.Notable Comments=Harry-Really nice. An infectious joyous spirit. Not sure if Idol is the way she should go. Jennifer-Sounded good.Going To Hollywood= Nope. Though Keith said he would have said "Yes".

Quentin Alexander (20) He is wearing a crazy outfit that Jennifer describes as half tribal, half pilgrim.He sings so well, until he forgets the lyrics and messes up a little. But his voice has a very smooth quality to it. Should Go To Hollywood.Notable Comments=Harry=Everything pushes to the edge but doesn't go over it. Wants him to be quirky. Can push further. Jennifer-Does interesting stuff, but needs to do more interesting things with his voice.Going To Hollywood= Yep. All 3 Judges Send Him. Mikey Duran (19) Went to the same high school as Harry Connick Jr. He sings an original called "My Demise". His voice is so different. It's a little froggy, a little soprano, it's actually hard to describe. It's enjoyable so that's a really good thing. It's a really great song to boot. Should Go To Hollywood.Notable Comments= Keith=Loves that song. Jennifer=Sound of voice is so unique.Going To Hollywood=Yep. All 3 Judges Send Him.

Nalani Quintello (19), Tori Martin (20) and Hope Windle (24) get montaged together. Nalani has the best voice of all of them, followed somewhat closely by Tori. Hope struggles. She has a voice, but not strong at all. Nalani and Tori Should Go To Hollywood. Hope Should Not Go To Hollywood. Going To Hollywood=Yep. Nalani and Tori get all 3 Judges sending her. Hope gets Keith and Jennifer's vote.

Ricky Hendricks (17) He goes hunting, fishing and throws rocks in the water. He is a pure country boy and country singer. His voice is really young and there are parts that were a little thin, but there was a part of his voice and his personality that really connected with the audience. I enjoyed how he was going for the entertaining aspect of performing. I wish he had a bit of a stronger voice, but it's enough to go further. Should Go To Hollywood. Notable Comments= Keith-Excellent. Natural talent but it is flying all over the place right now. Jennifer=Moves his body, and smiled and lyric made him feel is amazing. Needs his voice to feel as good. Harry=Is a young man and sounds like it but is interested in seeing him grow by being with other more experienced singers. Going To Hollywood=Yep. All 3 Judges Send Him.

Dakota Suarez (18) He says he is from a small town and there is no one like him because he is a Drag Queen, his performer name is Bianca Jade. He definitely knows how to perform and is super comfortable on stage. His voice is lacking a little. But, it's not that bad that he shouldn't move on. He Should Go To Hollywood. Notable Comments= Harry-No better pleasure seeing a Drag Queen on this show, seeing him dressed up one day as himself and next as a Drag Queen, but his voice is nice but not an incredible voice. Jennifer=Likes him and his voice is really good.Going To Hollywood= Yep. Keith and Jennifer Send Him.

Adam Lasher (27) Is related to Carlos Santana because he is his nephew. Jennifer Lopez says he looks like Jimmy Fallon, and he really does. Despite having a busted hand he plays an original with his guitar. Adam is really cool. He has had a lot of experience playing with his uncle, and you can tell that right away, but Adam is great on his own. He Should Go To Hollywood. Notable Comments=Harry-Loves his artistry. Harry-Liked way he sings, made the guitar happen without thumb function.Going To Hollywood=Yep. All 3 Judges Send Him.

Erica Washington (24) When she was 18 she had a daughter and has struggled, but finally got here. She sings Beyonce's "Halo", which is a pretty difficult song to sing, but Erica handles it pretty well. Her voice really cuts through. Doesn't do too much and just can flat out sing. Not at the top of my list tonight, but is still really so good. Should Go To Hollywood. Notable Comments= Harry-Really talented. Has a thick sound. It's a gift. Jennifer-Amazing voice, way she looks. Everything.Going To Hollywood= Yep. All 3 Judges Send Him.

Best of The Night=Angelica "Jelly" Joseph. Her voice is really memorable and quite dynamic. She flawlessly hit some crazy notes and did some fantastic runs with such ease. I love performers that make things easy, and she really did tonight.

Final Thoughts

*Tonight was so much better than last night. There were a lot more ready-made stars that knew their voice and what to do with it. Jelly Joseph, Adam Lasher, Ricky Hendricks and Greyson Turner really stood out. I'd revoke only a couple tickets tonight, including Hope Windle and Tiffany Stringer. The rest of the folks have to push themselves a little more or take a few more risks, but overall tonight was pretty successful.

*Not a ton to complain about tonight. It was a really solid episode. With only one-hour there isn't time for the sob-stories or really awful auditions (although we got one). This format is really getting to the talent a lot quicker and makes the contestants more memorable. Despite the abbreviated episode we still saw 14 or 15 contestants tonight go through. Not bad at all.That's it. Next week is the last week of auditions and then we are going to Hollywood. Come back here next Wednesday for a brand new recap. So until then, see ya!